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I (No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 1. H. STEVENSON. FOLDING BED Patented N0v..7, 1893.

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(No Model.) 7 3 Sheets-Sheet 2. H. STEVENSON.

FOLDING BED. No. 508,058. Patented Nov. 7, 1893.

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(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3. HSTBVBNSON. FOLDING BED. No. 508,058. Patented Nov. 7, 1893.

UNIT D- STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HUGITSTEVENSON, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

FOLDING- BED.

I SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 508,058, dated November '7, 1893.

Application filetlMarch 3, 1893. Serial No. 464,486. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HUGH STEVENSON, of the city, county, and State of NewYork, have invented a new and Improved Folding Bed, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to improvements in folding beds, and especially to the kind of folding beds illustrated in Letters Patent of the United States, No. 477,967, dated June 28, 1892. The bed shown in the patent referred to and also the bed embodying my present improvements are adapted, when the beds are folded,to suspend the bedding; that is, both the covers and mattress, so as to permit a free circulation of air between the covers, to the end that they may be thoroughly ventilated.

The construction shown in my former patent referred to is adapted to suspend and separate the several pieces of the bedding, but it does not when folded permit the covers to lie perfectly straight and in a parallelposition, and the object of my present improvements is to construct the bed so that when it is folded the covers may be separated and held perfectly straight and also to hold the covers and the mattress so that the bed may be very easily made up when necessary.

To this end my invention consists in certain features of construction and combinations of parts, as will be hereinafter described and claimed.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part-of this specification, in which similar figures of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a broken end View, looking from the foot, of the bed embodying my invention, showing it made ready for occupancy. Fig. 2-is a plan view of the same. Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the bed when folded; and Fig. 4 is a broken vertical longitudinal section of the bed when let down ready for use.

The bedstead, as shown, is made up of piping, but any style of bedstead may be used without affecting the character of my invention. As shown, however, the bedstead has a headboard and a footboard or frame 11. The headboard comprises the uprights or posts 12 which are connected together at the top, a cross brace 13 connecting the posts near their lower ends, the ring 14 arranged between the posts, and the short braces 15 connecting the ring with the posts, the cross brace 13 and the top of the headboard. This constructionmay be varied indefinitely however. The footboard or frame is also provided with short posts 16 which are connected at the top by a cross piece or pipe 17. The bed is provided with suitable side pieces 18 which at one end are firmly secured to the posts or legs 16 of the footboard, and at their opposite ends these side pieces are connected by a pipe 19. Near this pipe 19 is a weight 20 which acts as a counterbalance and enables the footboard and the side pieces, together with the bedding carried by the bedstead, to be easily raised or lowered when desired. The side pieces are pivoted near their forward ends, as shown at 21, to upwardly extending portions or lugs 22 carried by the supplemental legs 23 which are arranged near the head of the bed and connected together by a cross brace 24c and are also connected-by a brace 24: with the-posts 12. It will be seen that a space is thus formed between the legs 23 and the posts 12 sufficiently large to permit the swinging of the head of the bed.

The bedstead carries a suitable spring which may be of any desired kind, but, as shown, the spring is provided with a cross piece 25 arranged near the foot of the bed and secured to the side pieces 18, a spring web or woven spring 26 connecting the cross piece 25 and the weight 20, which also serves as a cross piece for the spring, a supporting frame of the cross slats 27 and 28 arranged beneath the woven spring, spiral springs 29 carried by the slats and arranged between the said slats and the woven spring or web, and supporting rods 30 extending beneath the slats and secured to the cross piece 25 and weight 20.

On the spring-bed just described may be placed a mattress 31 which is of the usual kind and is secured at one end by means of rings 32 to the cross piece 17 of the footboard, this arrangement enabling the mattress to be freely suspended when the footboard is raised and the bed folded.

The most essential feature of my present invention is the arms 33 which are arranged at the foot of the bed and are hung or secured to sleeves 34: which turn on the legs 16.

These arms are curved so that when the bed is let down, as in Fig. l, they extend inward, rearward and upward, but they are also adapted to be swung outward so as to diverge, as shown in Fig. 3, this being the position which they are made to assume when the bed is folded. When the bed is to be used and the frame is let down the arms are swung inward so as to converge, as shown in Fig. 1, and when the bed is to be folded they are swung outward, as shown in Fig. 3, these different positions serving to contract or expand the covers carried by the arms, as described presently. The arms are adapted to be held in either of the positions specified and any suitable fastening device may be used.

A convenient form of fastening device is shown in Fig. 1, in which the sleeve 34 is notched, as shown at 33, and is adapted to engagea pin or stud 36 on the legs 16. When the arm 33 is to be turned it is raised so that the sleeve will clear the pin, and when the arm is turned till the notch 35 registers with the pin the sleeve drops over the pin and is thereby fastened. On the arms 33 are sliding rings 37 which are secured to the covers 38 of the bed, and the rings are connected together by cords 37, each cord having a free end 39 terminating in a button 40. The arms 33 have keepers 41 near their free ends, and the rings 37 may be drawn toward the free ends of the arms and held there by fastening the free ends 39 of the cords 37 to the keepers 41.

When the bed is to be made and used, the footboard is pulled down thus swinging the bed into a horizontal position. The arms 33 are swung toward each other into the position shown in Fig. 1, and the rings 37 are permitted to slide down upon the arms to the corners of the footboard, thus making the covers 38 sufficiently slack or loose to permit the bed to be conveniently made. When thebed is to be folded, the arms 33 are swung outward, the rings 37 are drawn toward the ends of the arms by pulling upon the freeends 39, of the cords 37 and the rings are fastened by tying the cords to the keepers 41.

The operation described straightens out the bedding at the foot of the bed, and when the footboard is lifted to fold the bed, the covers drop into a vertical position, as show 11 in Fig. 3, and by dotted lines in Fig. 4, the construction and arrangement of the arms and rings serving to hold them in this position. As a result the covers are held in such a way that the air may circulate freely between them.

It will be readily understood that the swinging arms 33 which constitute the essential feature of this invention and the means of connecting the bedding with the arms, may be employed in connection with a bedstead of any usual construction without-departing from the principle of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. The combination, witha folding bed and the bedding thereof, of outwardly and inwardly swinging arms carried by the movable portion of the bed, and a sliding connection between the bedding and said arms, whereby the bedding is suspended from the arms and is capable of movement thereon, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with a folding bed and the bedding thereof, of swinging arms held to the movable portions of the bed and adapted to move inward and outward thereon, rings held to slide on the arms and secured to the bedding, and fastening devices to fix the position of the rings, substantially as described.

3. The combination, with the folding bed and the bedding thereof, of the inwardly and outwardly swinging arms carried by the movable portion of the bed, the rings held to slide on the arms and connected with the bedding, the cord secured to the rings, and keepers on the arms to engage the cords, substantially as described.

4:- The combination with the foldingbed and the bedding thereof, of the swinging arms journaled on the foot posts of the bed, the rings held to slide on the arms and connected with the bedding, fastening devices to fix the position of the arms, and means for fixing the position of the rings upon the arms, substantially as described.

I-IUGl-I STEVENSON.

Witnesses:

G. P. II. MCVAY, M. B. PHILLIPS. 

